For What it’s Worth…

This is not a book review, as much as a notice of intended reviewing!

Voddie Baucham’s new book What He Must Be: if he wants to marry my daughter doesn’t seem to be available in Australia yet since it was only published 3 weeks ago.  With the poor state of the Australian dollar I’m reluctant to buy too many books online at the moment, so I’m keeping it to the bare necessities from Amazon, B & N, ChristianBook.com & Monergism Books!

Anyway, being that I’m a father of a daughter, the title of this book grabbed my attention instantly. (OK, so Heidi is only 3, but I like to be prepared!).  I’ve listened to a talk by Vodide Baucham about this topic (in fact, with this same title) and his assessment of what’s wrong with much of how relationships are established today is very sharp.  He doesn’t shy away from pointing out the dangers and pitfalls in common relationship patterns and behaviours, likening the exclusive intimate relationships between teenagers and young adults to going shopping without any money – “either you’re going to leave frustrated or take something that doesn’t belong to you!”  I’m pretty sure I’m going to like the book!

If we are actually speaking truth … why isn’t anyone listening?

I’ve been reading Branding Faith by Phil Cooke.  To some in the church, the idea of branding is anathema,  but I suspect this is mostly due to misunderstanding the concept.  Branding is part of the reality within the church exists.  Cooke quotes a study which found that one in four babies, speaks a brand name as their first word!  This study, by British Market Research Bureau  is also quoted in a slightly alarming 2003 article in the SMH.

At the heart of the challenge laid out in the book is Cooke’s distillation of the definition of marketing: The art of surrounding a product, organisation or person with a powerful and compelling story.  The gospel of Jesus Christ is a powerful and compelling story, we don’t need to find it, or create it, just tell it!  The task seems to me to be local churches finding answers to the question, “how do we tell the powerful and compelling story of the gospel of Jesus Christ in our communities?”

It’s impossible to do justice to such a significant topic in a limited space, but we can think of God’s holiness as being both his unique ‘otherness’ in terms of power, authority and glory, and also his perfect purity. There is none like our God! Because of God’s holiness, the New Testament urges Christians also to be holy, (ie 1 Peter 1:15), that is to be ‘separate’ in the sense of distinctive, and pure.

In his letter to Titus, pastor of the church in Crete, The Apostle Paul identifies God’s desire for holiness among his people as the reason for Christ’s life, death and resurrection, “to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good” Titus 2:14.